With the city of Temecula soon to celebrate its 25th birthday, I sat down recently to come up with the top 10 stories since incorporation on Dec. 1, 1989.

I drew up a proposed list and ran it by some of the more experienced news hounds I know, both here in The Press-Enterprise newsroom and former colleagues.

In the coming weeks, from time to time, I’ll offer up these stories – in no particular order – for you to review and/or eschew.

Population Growth

In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau pegged the population of the entire Murrieta-Rancho California-Temecula area at 2,769. By the 1980 census, 10,215 people lived in the region, an increase of 269 percent.

It was the completion of I-15 through Temecula in 1985 that opened the floodgates to nearby San Diego County, making it possible to own a brand-new home in Temecula and still have a manageable commute to work.

Temecula incorporated in December 1989. The first Census Bureau count of the city in 1990 found 27,099 residents.

And they kept coming. Families camped outside the sales offices of housing developments waiting for each new phase to be released.

From 1990 to 2000, the city’s population more than doubled to 57,716.

In June 2001, the city annexed the Vail Ranch community, adding about 5,500 residents. In 2005, the Redhawk community was annexed. adding about 9,000 new Temeculans.

In 2008, Temecula’s population topped the 100,000 mark – 101,157 – for the first time, according to the annual estimate by the California Department of Finance.

The recession of recent years caused the population growth to stagnate, and the 2010 census counted 100,097 residents.

However, with the economy recovering, the 2014 estimate by the finance department pegged the population at 106,289, making Temecula the state’s 63rd-largest city.

Since incorporation in 1989, Temecula’s population has increased by 281 percent.

The Buffman Project

In April 1993, promoter Zev Buffman stopped in Old Town Temecula for a sandwich – so the story goes – and had a vision of a Western-themed entertainment center in the hills above the historic district.

For the next five years, the Buffman project played out across the Temecula stage like an old-fashioned melodrama.

Buffman’s project, which originally included a virtual reality theater and an opera house, was praised by those who felt it would bring both jobs and new life to the historic district, which attracted few tourists and regularly rolled up the sidewalks at 5 p.m.

Those opposed cited the potential traffic, noise and crime a major entertainment venue would bring.

In March 1995, Measure B, a public opinion advisory vote on the project, barely passed, 4,115 to 4,066.

A month later, the Temecula Old Town Advancement League filed the first of several lawsuits against the project.

As controversy swirled – everyone had an opinion – Buffman moved forward, while looking for investors.

In October 1997, Temecula’s Planning Commission approved its first phase.

The next month, Dusty Rogers, son of legendary film and television stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, joined with Buffman and the project was renamed RogersDale U.S.A.

In December 1997, the planning commission gave its approval for the second phase of the project.

However, the wheels began slowly coming off Buffman’s wagon in Temecula.

In January 1998, he said he was looking at another potential site, in Murrieta in what was known as the Golden Triangle.

The next month, the Temecula council, citing the litigation surrounding RogersDale U.S.A., declined to pass a funding mechanism to pay for the infrastructure Buffman needed.

In March 1998, Buffman saddled up his project and announced he was moving it to Murrieta. It was never built, and the Triangle in Murrieta remains undeveloped to this day.